Wednesday: 7.2 easy miles in some much needed sunshine in a nearby park

Thursday: 0.75 mile warm-up, 1600/1200/1000/800/600/400 @ 8:00 pace, and a short 0.5 mile cool-down. Dave’s MIT met at an outdoor high school track, and it was a windy day to run around in circles. I had planned to wear shorts, but the wind cooled the temperature down so much that I never took off the jogger pants I wore for the car trip. I think decreasing workouts are my favorite. They feel equally hard, but it’s nice to tell myself the next interval will be over faster.

Friday: 7 easy miles – I slept in after Thursday’s evening track workout so I ran these miles after work. It wasn’t ideal but worth the extra sleep.

Saturday: 10.3 mile solo long run from my parent’s house after a family brunch. I did not want to start this run, and I put it off for a couple of hours, but I got out the door by bargaining with myself. I’d try 4 miles outside, and if I was struggling, I could take it to the treadmill and watch a movie to finish off the miles. I ended up finishing all of it outside.

Sunday: Pure Barre

Weekly mileage = 39 miles, 2 PB

WhyyyyyYyyyYyy.One day the weather will warm, and I will no longer need to run around my neighborhood like I’m looking to rob it.True today and always. Anyone else like to put off a run so long that laying on the ground sounds like a good idea?!Hey, running partner! Ya stole my hat.Pretty sunset views from the Perrysburg High School track.

Week 12:

Monday: 4.5 easy miles

Tuesday: 1 warm-up mile, 5 alternating miles between half marathon pace and 20-30 seconds faster [8:54, 8:31, 8:49, 8:39, 9:13], 1.2 cool-down mile – womp, womp. I gave up on the last 6th alternating mile and opted for an early cool-down. The wind was vicious this day, and my legs were so heavy. I spent too much energy fighting the wind during the first hmp/hmp-30s that I had emptied most of the tank before I even got to the second set. Like last Thursday’s workout, I sucked it up, reminded myself the effort was there even if the number wasn’t what I wanted it to be.

Wednesday: 4.1 easy miles to/from Pure Barre – I’m glad I didn’t realize how cold and drizzly it was until the door shut behind me. These were relatively whiny miles, but it was great to have Pure Barre and a run finished before work.

Thursday: (am) Pure Barre, (pm) 1 mile warm-up, 8 x 800m @ ~8:30 pace [4:05, 4:15, 4:13, 4:14, 4:15, 4:12, 4:13, 4:12], and a cool-down home – nailed it! I had a work dinner so I didn’t make it to Dave’s MIT track night, but I got it done at a nearby high school track. I should note that I ran this after a glass of wine and a really big dinner, and I thank my lucky stars that I didn’t feel like hurling it all back up.

Friday: I planned to run three easy miles in NYC after we arrived that morning, but it never happened. This was a down week, so I didn’t let it bother me too much.

Saturday: 10 mile long run in Central Park – can I just say how cool the NYRR Run Center in Columbus Circle is?! Alex and I were able to store our things in their lockers, run in the park, come back to change, and even foam roll before going back to our AirBnB to shower.

Sunday: Rest day

Weekly mileage = 32.3 miles, 2 PB

Race day is approaching quickly, and the other Glass City Marathon Ambassadors and I can’t wait to welcome you. Don’t forget to study the course maps and take the opportunity to run a few portions of it if you’re local. I know I’m trying to prioritize this during the tempo runs to replicate race day as much as possible.

I logged into WordPress and thought, “I’ve got about three weeks of training recaps to write,” only to discover I left off at week 8. Week 13 wrapped up on Sunday. D’oh.

If this is not a perfect example of how swamped I’ve felt the past month, I don’t know what is. On the bright side, I have been diligently following my Dave’s MIT plan, even if I’ve done a poor job of updating this space.

In a combined week 9 & 10 recap, there were several confidence-building workouts, an exceptionally bad one, and a big half marathon PR on a training run!

Saturday routine: sprint to the shower immediately after my long run and do not emerge until I feel like a normal temperature again. Proceed to dress in as many layers as possible to retain warmth while I stretch on a mat. Multi-tasking sometimes includes breakfast.

Week 9:

Monday: 5 easy miles with Alex and the pup – I felt sleepy and sluggish, but my HR was nice and low. Perfect! Monday is one of the hardest mornings to get out of bed and run, but it feels so good to have miles banked before I even start the work week.

Wednesday: 4 easy morning miles – I planned to go to Pure Barre after work, but I felt tired and decided to listen to my body and opt out.

Thursday: (am) Pure Barre, (pm) 1 mile warm-up, 2 x 1000, 2 x 800m, 2 x 600m at 8:00 minute pace with 2 minute rest in between the intervals, and ~1 mile cool-down on the treadmill – Dave’s MIT track night was cancelled due to the weather so I took the workout to the treadmill. The only note I have written down in my journal is “Hard!” Sounds about right.

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: 12 mile long run – 10 with my group, plus 2 extra on my own. I threw them in there as a confidence booster for the next week’s half marathon. My legs were tired, but I kept reminding myself that I was 1.1 miles shy of my fastest half marathon ever.

Sunday: Pure Barre

Weekly mileage = 34 miles, 2 PB

Week 10:

Monday: 1 warm-up mile, 60 minutes @ half marathon pace [8:56, 9:02, 8:58, 8:57, 8:59, 8:53 for last 0.6], 0.8 cool-down mile – I moved my workouts up one day to give my legs a little extra rest before Saturday’s race. These tempo miles felt comfortably hard just like they’re supposed to and that felt encouraging.

Tuesday: 5 easy miles with Alex – when I write “with Alex” I really mean…”with Alex for a mile before he needs to speed up to his actual easy pace.” That’s okay. I’m too thrilled that he’s injury-free and able to leave me in his dust. I can’t wait to see him crush his own half marathon goal. Legs felt a little heavy from Monday’s tempo run.

Wednesday: (am) 1 warm-up mile, 2 x 1 mile at 8:06, 1.7 mile cool-down, (pm) Pure Barre – real talk: the morning workout was awful. I took off way too fast in the first mile, and then I tried to jog the 2 minute rest instead of walk it as prescribed. I actually stopped three-quarters of the way into the second mile to catch my breath because I gave up mentally. I was wiped, and the moment I looked down at my watch to see I still had a quarter mile to go, I stopped running. I skipped the third planned interval and ran a longer cool-down home. I might’ve let a bad workout like this freak me out at one point in time, but I decided to suck it up. It was what it was, and I wouldn’t let it dictate my level of fitness.

Thursday: 5 easy miles in the neighborhood – legs felt much better than Tuesday. Traveled to DC in the evening after work.

Friday: Rest day but a lot of walking around the city

Saturday: 13.1 miles and a big ‘ol PR at the Rock ‘n Roll DC Half! I ran 2:20:XX in April 2017 and 2:15:XX during a marathon in October 2017. On Saturday, I ran 2:08:XX, including a wait in line for a restroom on the race course. My husband (who ran with me) stopped his watch during this detour and that gave us 2:05:XX without the interruption. Aside from a couple of pretty uncomfortable first 6 miles (full bladder, long bathroom lines, overheating/overdressing, unexplained knee pain that disappeared later) – the race really turned around. We tried to alternate 2 easy miles/ 2 @ hmp, and I’m pleased with how it went on a really hilly second-half of the course. The real MVP is my husband who tolerated my really sour/pissed off self that first hour…I’m sorry!!! Thankfully, the knee pain is completely resolved. It started getting irritated Thursday night after many hours of sitting at my desk, then the car, then a plane, then another car with limited foam rolling and stretching.

Sunday: “Rest day” = another ~20k steps around the city

Weekly mileage = 36.2 miles, 1 PB

This is Alex’s bib. I completely forgot I put that silly tag line on it when I registered us both, and it made me giggle when we picked it up.

Who else is counting down the days to the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon?! Or booked your room? Studied the course map? I’m currently starting to think about what I’d like to wear on race day, but after a winter of fleece-lined leggings and ear warmers, I’m going to need to remember how to dress for a temperature warmer than 30 degrees. I ran Rock ‘n’ Roll with a long sleeve tied around my waist for 75% of the race so I already know I need help.